The Big Four Edible Plant
Groups
Grasses, Cattails, Pines, Acorns
Grasses
• Almost all bladed grasses are edible
• You can eat:
– Young shoots up to 6” raw
– Seeds
• raw, roasted, flour, mush
• High in protein
• Purple or black seeds may have a toxic
fungus
• Mature leaves are too fibrous
– can’t digest cellulose
– Chew and spit out or make tea
Cattails
• Almost all parts of
cattail are edible
• Young shoots up to
2 feet raw
– Green flower heads
boiled
– Summer pollen
heads – raw, flour
– Sprouts raw or boiled
– Roots raw, crush
dissolve in water and
dried into flour
Pine Trees
• Needles in bundles of 2
or 5
• Needles - Chop, and boil
in tea (Vitamin C)
• Pollen anthers – raw
(protein)
• Seeds – heat pine cone
in fire to open
• Inner bark – scrape off
outer layer and eat inner
layer between bark and
wood raw or boiled
Acorns
• green or ripe
• white and pin oak =
raw
• other oaks = leached
in running water
several hours or
boiled in several
changes of water
Other notes…
• Do Not - test unknown plants by eating
small amounts
• Do Not - eat anything just because
animals can
• Not all parts of an edible plant are edible
• Some parts are only edible when cooked
• Some plants are only edible in certain
seasons
Edible during certain seasons
• Spring – shoots and leaves
– Roots are still highly nutritious
• Summer – shoots, leaves, and flowers
– Roots poor in nutrients
• Fall – seeds, berries, and nuts
• Winter – roots